Geist is an action-adventure first person shooter developed by n-Space and published by Nintendo for the GameCube.  Released in 2005, Geist is the second M-rated video game published by Nintendo with the first being Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem.

Development of the game began in 2002 when n-Space learned that Nintendo was interested in bringing more first-person shooters with unique gameplay elements to the GameCube to compete with Sony’s and Microsoft’s long list of first-person shooters being released for the PlayStation and Xbox.  The development team had the idea of making a game with an invisible protagonist which evolved during the development cycle to be a ghost and Poltergeist.  After spending approximately eight months creating a prototype under the working title “Fear”, the prototype was sent to Nintendo for review.

Nintendo was intrigued with the concept and decided to move forward with the project.   Partnering with n-Space, Nintendo worked closely with n-Space on the game’s development.  Six months into the newly formed partnership Shigeru Miyamoto suggested that object possession be incorporated into the gameplay mechanics, something that would give the game a unique style of gameplay and set it apart from the many other first-person shooters that were being released at the time.

Geist was revealed during E3 2003 and was later stated that the game would be released by years end.  In the coming months both parties realized that they had different visions for the game and were working in different directions.  While n-Space had envisioned the game to be a first-person shooter, Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe considered the game to be a first-person action-adventure.  The adjustments required to be incorporated into the game to meet Tanabe’s vision caused the game to be delayed numerous times until it was finally released two years after its initial release date in 2005.